


Thumderstorms

by Eternally_Damned



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 11:57:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11554734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternally_Damned/pseuds/Eternally_Damned
Summary: Jack was dishonorably discharged from Overwatch a year ago following the revelation that he had let enemy spies into his inner circle. Since then, his life has been in less than stellar condition and though it pains him to admit it, he misses Gabriel.





	Thumderstorms

A wet nose and whimper startled Jack from a fitful sleep. He had been dreaming about, about. Well he couldn’t quite remember now. But it must have been upsetting him enough that his dog saw fit to wake him. He sighed and ran a hand down his flushed face, getting his sweat-soaked hair into his eyes. So it was going to be that kind of night again, it seemed. Hauling himself out of bed was a bit of a challenge with a concerned lab at his feet but he found that wrangling Bear took his mind off the fuzzy nightmare and lingering ache in his muscles from tensing in his sleep. He plodded to the bathroom and winced at the brightness of the light. Looking in the mirror revealed bags under his eyes and what looked to be tear tracks running down his cheeks and neck. He stripped his sweat soaked shirt and tossed it on the ground to be dealt with later and ran some cool water to splash his face with, all the while offering scratches and affection to the white dog at his feet.  
  
Once he had calmed and cooled himself, Jack walked back to his drab bed in his sparsely decorated room and sat down at the edge. Settling in for a long night with no more sleep, he reached for his phone and checked the time: 4:13 AM. Better than usual. He unlocked the phone and pulled up Ana’s contact, his thumb hovering over the call button for a while before he sighed and threw it behind him. What was the point anyways. Ana had a child to worry about. A life that required her to be rested and present. All jack had was this dingy apartment in the middle of nowhere, Indiana.  
  
Not for the first or last time, he wondered if this would all be different had he listened to Gabe about the enemy forces inside Overwatch. Gabe. It still stung to think about him. Leading his loyal band of outlaws and misfits into the main Overwatch HQ and dragging the traitors out, kicking and screaming. It was only two weeks until Jack had been dishonorably discharged and told never to show his face again.  
  
He sat on his bed, head in his hands and Bear at is feet until the sun rose. He felt more tired than when he had managed to fall asleep. At around 7, his phone went off and his heart skipped a beat at the sudden noise. As if she could read him even from hundreds, maybe even thousands, of miles away, Ana was calling him. He moved and groaned at the stiffness from sitting so long. Picking up the phone and answering was the easy part. Knowing what to say was where he got hung up. Thankfully Ana saved him.  
  
“Jack, how long have you been awake,” her calming voice came through the phone.  
  
“You woke me up, Ana,” he half-croaked in return.  
  
“Don’t lie to me Jack,” she paused to bark an order to someone nearby, “I know you don’t sleep. And especially not tonight.”  
  
Jack checked his calendar and was surprised to see the date. One year since he had lost his position. One year since he had seen his closest friends in any way other than pictures.  
  
“I hadn’t realized. Is Blackwatch throwing a party?” he spat, even the name of the organization making him want to throw up. The tone woke up Bear and he padded out of the room to get Jack’s morning meds.  
  
“I won’t keep you long, Jack, but Gabe did want me to give you his number. It seems he is ready to talk,” Ana said flatly, ignoring his comment about celebrating his departure.  
  
Jack flinched at his name and nearly hung up on her then and there. “And did he say what he wanted to talk about? Maybe he just wants to remind me, Ana, what then?”  
  
“This isn’t my battle and you know that. I will text you his number and you can do what you will.” The sound from her end became muffled then, presumably she was issuing more commands to her team. Jack still sometimes missed that control, but more often these days, the authority in her voice just made him want to curl up under his blankets.  
  
“And Jack, Fareeha says hello. She asks about you, you know. Wants to know if you will come to her birthday party. She will be 13 this year. Think about it,” there was some shuffling on the other side and the sound of blast doors being opened. “I have to go now.” And with that she hung up, leaving Jack alone once again with his thoughts and his bare walls.  
  
Bear came back to the room now, with an orange bottle in his mouth and a gentle look on his face. As Jack was washing the acid aftertaste from his mouth, his phone chirped again with a phone number from Ana, Gabe’s latest burner phone number, he guessed.  
  
Jack pulled on a pair of sweatpants and an old SEP shirt, something his therapist had recommended he get rid of, but that he couldn’t quite let go of. The kitchen in his apartment was clean, the habits of a soldier never quite having left him. He bypassed any actual cooking utensils in favor of a box of cereal, which he poured a bowl of and sat at his table to eat dry.  
  
One year. Had it really been that long? He thought to himself. It felt like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at once. He had been such a different person then. The Golden Boy of Overwatch. But the loss of the structure and authority in his life had brought him where he was today. And no more Gabe. A small, traitorous part of his brain supplied. But he had the means to fix that now. Or at least hear his voice again. And though the thought of calling the number sent to him made him feel physically ill, it also soothed a part of him. The part that missed his… they had never talked about what they were. But the part that missed Gabe. So with a resolute nod and a not small amount of shaking, he dialed.  
  
“Hello, Dan’s guns and weapons shop, this is Daniel speaking.” The familiar voice on the other end of the line said. And just that was enough to bring tears to Jack’s eyes for the second time in a day.


End file.
